The scoop on life as married entrepreneurs.

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It all started last July. We decided we were going to raise a round of financing for our startup, TapHunter (rebranding to Bevato). We kept driving our key metrics (revenue) and in October I hit the road. I want to share a few insights I learned along the way. This post is for all of the founders and entrepreneurs who have thought or said things like:

There’s no money or investors in our city

We didn’t get accepted to TechStars, so we’ll never raise money

We don’t know any rich business people

Now’s not a good time of year

We’re not 2 hackers from Stanford, nobody will ever fund us

Nobody invests in female founders

And my all time favorite, people don’t like to fund married founders

There is NO easy path to raising money for your company. It’s hard work and as the CEO you better know your market size, LTV, CAC, growth, burn, how long the money will last, have a proven operating plan and be prepared to show it all. If you don’t know the answers it’s your job to find the answers, raise your hand and ask for help. It’s YOUR job and nobody else’s.

Once you’ve prepared your financials and spent countless hours on making 50 different versions of your investor deck it’s time to build your investor list. There are investors in your city and don’t let anyone tell you differently. There might not be 10+ VC firms chasing your company down with millions, but there’s money in your city and it’s your job to go find it. It’s time to pound the pavement.

Tip 1: Be prepared for rejection. Keep track of the no’s. Don’t stop until you get 50 no’s. Learn to identify actionable changes within the No’s.

Tip 2: Hope like hell you actually have traction or product market fit. It’s pretty hard to fake it. What amount of traction is sufficient? Month over month revenue growth is one great sign!

Tip 3: Network like your life depends on it. Here’s a breakdown of how we got connected to some of our investors.

Investor #1 – is a seed stage firm in SF and I got an intro from a trusted portfolio company. We got a yes in 7 days and this helped set the momentum in our hometown, San Diego.

Investor #2 – met him for the first time at an Xconomy event in September 2013. I gave him a 3 minute pitch and we met 3 weeks later for lunch.

Investor #3 – met him because of my participation in Startup SD mentor hours. Investor #2 does deals with investor #3 and that helped solidify confidence.

Investor #4 – he’s the CTO of a local company and I met him a year and a half ago. We kept one another updated on our companies and when it came time I pitched him.

Investor #5 – the president of investor #4′s company. Investor #4 passed him the deal. I had no idea he was making investments.

Investor #6 – met him at Poker 2.0. I checked his Linkedin and saw he was an angel investor and we met for lunch the next week.

Investor #7 – is the CEO of a local company and I met him 4 years ago. This is a personal relationship I’ve groomed over that time. Not only did he invest, but he also introduced me to one of his investors.

I could go on, but the point is these relationships ranged anywhere from a couple of weeks to 4 years. Can you see the themes here? The best way to get a meeting with an investor is to get an introduction from an entrepreneur they trust. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re in a budding startup city where VC’s aren’t standing in line at Starbucks, ask yourself what you can do to bring them to you. I helped organize Startup Mentor hours and share office space with the team who hosts Poker 2.0. I’ll be posting more about other insights I learned along the way. Now get out there and hustle.

On our 9-hour drive home from Sparks, Nevada we counted up all of the people and cities we saw over the last 10 days. We are so lucky that each of our parents and hometowns are just 4 hours apart. Or are we? Just kidding moms. Don’t worry; we’ll be home again next year to do it all over again. We just request that you nobody asks Mel to make Forgotten Cookies!

The families have grown and will continue to. Some homes are starting to reach capacity and it’s so fun to see how the hosts get creative in packing all of their wonderful family and friends into their homes each year. For example, Papa Smith’s home rose 12 degrees as each little new face ran through the front door on Christmas Eve.

So without further ado, here’s a recap of what our Christmas looks like and has for the past 8 years.

5 Cities

Walnut Creek

San Jose

Redwood City

Santa Clara

Sparks

5 Christmases

Gordon Christmas – 17 adults, 1 toddler, 1 bun in the oven

Progressive – 18 adults 3 kids, 1 bun in the oven, 3 dogs, 1 cat

Christmas Eve - 24 adults, 7 kids, 1 bun in the oven

Christmas Day – 9 adults, 3 dogs

Broman Christmas – 12 adults, 1 toddler, 1 dog, 1 cat

So as you can see we are very blessed to be surrounded by many loved ones. This time of year is difficult for a lot of people, regardless if they’re surrounded by a lot of loved ones or not. Reach out to someone in your family or a long lost friend. Give them a call the ol’ fashion way and wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Very big day. Payroll is ran every other week for our growing team. Early on this was the day I learned to dread. The actual morning when I emailed our paycheck details into our payroll company. It’s exciting that we even have a payroll company, but shitty because month after month I didn’t get to run payroll for myself. Some months I did, but it was so low that it was embarassing to talk about with other business friends and something you’d never want to post on Facebook. You know, the shit startup founders never talk about. The shit that if you told your friends, they’d look you straight in the eyes and ask, “so how in the hell have you been living these past few months.” Months, I thought to myself, try years. That’s for a different story.

My co-founder reminded me that I was also included in last weeks payroll. I shrugged my shoulders. He reminded me that the company had paid me the last 3 continuous payroll cycles. I paused, blank stare, and thought to myself, really? I thought back over the last 6 weeks and he was right. I just paid myself the most I’d seen in 2 years. FUCK, break out the champagne. Wait, why was nobody spraying champagne all over like they do MLB locker room style? I continued my work day as usual, hustling and moving the needle.

Later that day we needed dinner and I voted for Neighborhood Bar, my favorite place. The place that in a previous life I visited 2-3 times per week, the place I met friends, the place I celebrated life. The place I didn’t visit for 9 months because dammit, I didn’t have enough money in my bank account to buy a beer. As I walked down G Street tonight, getting closer and closer to my favorite watering hole, a tear squeaked out, and then another tear rolled down my cheek. This is the place that is located between my office and home, the place I purposefully didn’t walk by for weeks and months. Why? Because I’d be tempted to walk in and buy a beer I didn’t have money for or run into someone I knew and feel obligated to spend money I didn’t have.

I am fed up. I have had just about enough. Every morning I reach into my closet and utter the words that most girls do every morning, “I have nothing to wear.” But what most of us don’t say to ourselves, or in my case out loud to my husband, “you have a better wardrobe than me.” So I set out on a mission to fix this. And did I mention, I hate shopping.

First we answer the question of how he got a better wardrobe than me. Last summer my husband found a service called Bombfell, a man’s personal stylist clothing subscription. Yes, a complete genius entrepreneur thought up this concept. Now months later I can’t tell who’s more excited about the amazing new articles of clothing that show up. They appear in an adorable package, a modern day cracker jack toy and a stunning, fitted, designer shirt or pants. My husband looks hot 99% of the time, 7 days a week. His clothes fit, he wears them proud, and did I say he looks hot.

One late night I Googled “bombfell for girls” and found this article on Brit+Co. I read on in disbelief, there were 2 women’s personal stylist clothing subscription services. I clicked around like a mad women and chose Tog+Porter mainly due in part to being able to schedule a personal 1-to-1 Skype with a professional fashion stylist. At this point, I was thinking it was too good to be true. So you’re telling me I get to talk to a live person, explain my lifestyle to her, tell her what I like and don’t like and a few weeks later a box will show up on my door step with a cute outfit inside. Right, there’s no way. I HATE SHOPPING.

So it went like this:

Feb 28th Skype fashion consult with Emily, at which point she communicated what happens next and how long it would take.

By this point I was so excited, and this type A personality wants everything now, so I emailed Emily asking for an update a week later. She quickly responded, “your box is being put together now and will ship soon! ”

My impatiences grew (sorry Emily), then I started doubting that I’d actually like anything in the box, that it would be a miracle if any pants that were sent would be long enough, would it get here in time for my DC trip etc…..

2 days ago I received an email from Ashley the founder of Tog+Porter. Ah, the power of listening to your customers and taking action. The email went something like this, “……Emily then mentioned your company and I put two and two together. Anyway, from one entrepreneur to another, congratulations on what I hope has been a wildly successful venture!” We geeked out a bit further. More on that later

Ta-da – 15 business days later the box arrived.

I couldn’t get the box open quick enough. I realize the cute blazer has an elbow patch. Wait, I just pinned something like that days again. Coincidence, I think not.

A lovely silk blouse w/ adorable sleeve buttons, a shimmery tan cotton blazer w/ elbow patches and jeans that were made for me.

Ten minutes later I hopped on Skype with Emily in complete disbelief. Everything fits, it’s an entire outfit I would have never picked out in a million years, and best of all I LOVE THE ENTIRE OUTFIT. I’m sure that doesn’t happen every time, but come on… you do nothing, the box shows up, you keep what you like and send the rest back.

Do it ladies, I give you permission, you deserve a cute new spring outfit. Sign up and use promo code MGORDON13 for a $25 credit for both of us!!

What I feel like saying right now is I that must be a crazy person for booking a trip to Boston in January to then experience the windy and chilling 10 degrees weather for 5 days and nights. Crazy town. As I sit here on the last day of my trip sitting on my bed in a 100 year old carriage house in Cambridge (yay for airBnB $85/nt) I feel a since of calm.

It’s been a great 5 business days in Boston. Yes, that’s why I came out here, not for a vacation silly. In fact, it has exceeded expectations.

I was a bit intimidated by going solo, especially when it comes to navigating a big city or a subway system. Uber taxi (download the app, you won’t be sorry) to the rescue and thank goodness for Google Maps. One night I ended up in a taxi that took no credit card, had no GPS and I ended up lost in East Boston. Thank goodness I had a friend to call and pick me up from that shady and dark street corner. Note to self, don’t have friends in a new city, make some before you leave. Thanks Rich and Tim I owe you.

Sunday and Monday I was in conference all day. Monday I spoke to 50 small business owners, by far one of my favorite things to do. But then life started to happen. My inbox started to fill with customer service requests, no biggie that’s normal. New customers wanting to sign up, even better. My business partner to the rescue, fielding emails and phone requests so that I can stay focused on my trip. Do you have a business partner who can cover your ass when you’re out for a few days? I sure hope so.

Then came a bigger test. A shitty email came in. How shitty you ask? On a scale from 1-10. A 10, ok a 3, but still my business partner knew me enough to know that this email had the potential to affect me. I’m 3 hours ahead and was sleeping by the time it hit my world, but my business partner intercepted it before I could. When I woke up at 5am, 8am his time, I had an email in my in box that said, “don’t bother looking at it. You go have an amazing day and go kill it for our company.”

Does your business partner have your back? You better find out quick. Not sure how. Take a business trip. One day or seven days, 30 miles away or 500 miles away, it doesn’t matter. You will find out quicker than you think if you’re working with and partnered with the right person. If you answer yes to, “when I’m standing out in the freezing ass cold, does my business partner have my back?” then high five to you. If not, head for the hills because it’s going to be a long painful journey.

I love you Julie Gordon. The first postcard said, “Turning older doesn’t have to be stressful. Over the next couple of weeks, expect some “words of wisdom” from people that love you and want to help you celebrate getting another year wiser!”

The first postcard came one week ago. There have been 6 since then, one postcard everyday. Yes, you guessed it, I have a birthday coming up. I’m an over achiever who’s always judging herself and age is one of those data points. Oh geez, I’m turning X and I’ve only accomplished X. Sound familiar?

But the words of humor and wisdom kept showing up in the form of an adorable post card. It’s really stopped me in my tracks and helped me to appreciate the things I love most in life. Family, friends and humor. I’d love to share this heart felt series with you while simultaneously giving a huge high five to my amazing sister-in-law who is actually collecting these quotes from people, printing and mailing each individual post card by hand (mmmm, new business idea).

Last Friday morning I laid awake in bed for 2 hours. It was still dark out, so I think it must have been 4:30 or 5am. Half of the time I just laid there cuddling my pug. And then, I actually considered calling in sick to work. What the “F”? What’s even funnier, I’m the boss.

What was my deal? The day before someone looked me in the eyes and said, “take a break, start a different business, maybe this isn’t the one, leave it behind.” Me, blank stare and silence.

Looking back it’s always easier to think of what I would have liked to say. Next time, “well, I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m not giving up.” Thanks mom, you taught me that simple one liner and I swear I’m gonna use it.

MIND: Most days as an entrepreneur are exhilarating and exciting. Sometimes I catch myself grinning and get a feeling of being overjoyed. By what? The fact that I chose this path and that I am truly in control of my own destiny. However a few weeks back (I had to go back to Facebook to remember) the last week of June to be exact, I let the pains of entrepreneurship get the best of me. Which is one of the reasons why I’ve chosen to blog or at least keep it updated. I want and need to journal through these moments, learn from them and become stronger rather than just forgetting what happened or ignoring the pain. I finally remembered what threw me of course that week. I was down on myself for not hitting sales numbers and what started in a calm conversation with my business partner ended in a stream of tears. Feeling sorry for myself, maybe? But there’s just not time for that. Yes, we all need to give ourselves those days, but I need to be able to bounce back from adversity – quicker. I told myself that I would figure out ways to endure the crazy days better, and that’s exactly what I sought out to do.

BODY: July 13th marked a big day. I began crossfit training. I downloaded the Nike training app and soon became addicted. Why? Because I’m competitive and the app allows me to earn badges and unlock bonus workouts. The best part was showing my husband the bonus Hope Solo workout I unlocked. Double bonus. I know that I’m a person who needs fitness or sports in their life. Nearly 2 months later I’ve lost 10 pounds. I feel great and am on my way to feeling amazing. I’ve been running. Oh wait, let me back up. My husband has been training me to run. I hated running, I never ran in high school and couldn’t even fathom finishing a 1 mile run without stopping. But I love sports and working out, so I knew that I just needed to give it a try. Now I can run a 10 min mile and run 3 miles in a row without stopping. I think the all consuming 2012 Summer Olympics viewing obsession helped kicked me into gear. Thanks Hope Solo. I think I need to reward myself so when I’ve been on this fitness path for 4-6 straight months I can really celebrate.

SOUL: We always kid and joke about playing hooky during a work week. I always say to my husband, “let’s wake up tomorrow and spontaneously decide we’re going to the beach all day.” Well, we’re going to Disneyland. I can’t remember a time we played hooky mid week and I’m just so damn excited.